1. "Nor'Easter"
Posted by Kat on Nov-16th-02 at 5:27 AM

We have been having very mild weather down here in Florida...breaking records like 88 degrees this week...

Anyway, this is supposed to change Saturday.
From noon to 6 p.m. we'll be having heavy storms rocking through here and then the weatherman described the front as "racing up the eastern coastline, becoming a Nor'Easter."

I thought I'd warn you all up Maryland way  &on up into New York
that a Nor'Easter is coming!

And it comes FROM the Southwest?

That's how it was described.
Our mild air banging into the eastern seaboard cold with a really COLD front right on it's heels.  That would cause lots of wind and blowing bad weather.

I didn't realize that a "Nor-Easter" GOES Northeast...not comes from the Northeast!
If this explanation is wrong, will any weather freaks set me straight please?
OH, and let me know what the weather turns out to be over the weekend, in New York, etc!?
Once our weather LEAVES here we don't normally know what happens to it...they don't tell us!
Thanks!  kk

Please disregard this duplicate post.
It was put out by my Doppleganger.
Only accept the REAL ME!

How do we know that its the real you and not the doppelganger talking? 

JEESH!
When I got off here this morning there were only two threads the same.
I shut down, and ANOTHER pops up that wasn't there before!! 
Weird.
Well, let's assume this is me.
I'll give the password:  Moltyn Knowlton
Rain snow freezing rain wind tommorrow to Boston--just on the weather.
Well, youse guys in New England and New York!  The guy says don't fLY.
What's it like up there?

Hi Kat,

If the weather man says North East, the wind is coming from the North East. Barometric pressure is a much better storm indicator. If the pressure drops, the storm moves in. If the barometer rises, it pushes the storm away.  This is an over-simplification, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Bill

Oh yes.  You inquired about the weather up here (New York). It has been raining for the past three days, and the wind had been from the North East, not too strong 5-20 miles. Right now it has stopped raining but it will start again within the next 12 hours. Temps in the 40s.
Bill (your friendly weather-man).

And we have been having the Santa Ana winds blowing which makes it unseasonably hot and dry out here in California.  We had the highest temperature yesterday in the country, 85 degrees, the beaches were packed!!! 

Thanks Bill!
So how do these Nor'easter's get started, if I may enquire?
I wonder how I got so mixed up in that weather guys explanation.

We had one here once, believe it or not.  1993 I think.  Lots of hail and wind and damage...March.

It didn't turn into one were you are, then?
That's good to know.
How often do you guys get them in the North East?
Did I even spell it right?

I have more questions.

Edit Here:
Seems like Conneticut got it after all!
Anyone else?
Power outages...50,000 people?
Did they warn you?

(Message last edited Nov-18th-02  7:32 AM.)

I'm sorry to be tardy in this reply, Kat, I have had a very busy November and until last evening had not visited the LBS for about three weeks.

New England experienced a nor'easter (northeaster) the weekend of November 16-17. It included a rain, snow, and ice storm (depending on the temperature near the ground and in the atmosphere where the precipitation fell), and heavy winds. A nor'easter is a coastal storm which develops or intensifies over the Atlantic Ocean to the east and/or northeast of New Jersey, New York, New England, and the Maritimes and carries moisture over land from the Atlantic in a counter-clockwise circulation. Sometimes nor'easters are "average" storms but sometimes they are heavy and in a few cases can rival hurricanes in intensity. Not counting summer heat/humidity and hurricanes the most miserable weather New England experiences (storminess, dampness, heavy winds, rain, snow, and/or ice) is usually the result of nor'easters.

I was worried about the Conneticutets.
I wished you had replied sooner...but then I figured power outages into the equation.  And those seemed to keep happening in succeeding days to more area's, all the way to upstate New York.  Anyway, Did They Warn You?
Glad you reported back!  Thanks!
I didn't know the Nor-easter had a rotation.
And if it is carrying moisture from the Atlantic, it's beginning to sound like these dang hurricanes!
BTW:  It is Officially After Midnight and has now Officially become my FAVORITE day of the Year!  NOVEMBER 30th!
Officially The Last Day Of Hurricane Season!knockonwood

We did not lose power but thousands of people within 40-50 miles of us did, due to heavy winds and ice. Some of them were out 3, 4, or 5 days. We did have warnings of the impending storm but power outages of that magnitude are not usually predictable in a "winter" storm!

In winter weather a nor'easter's rotation, which brings moisture over land from the Atlantic Ocean, can result in very heavy snow, two feet or more during some storms.

I trust Florida will see no more hurricanes until next season!

Thankee kind Sir!  I trust not, as well!

It has Snowed here 3 times since I took notice of such things.
But the local weatherman said it'd been 27 years but that is wrong.
It snowed in 1966, 1977 (I remember because I would tell people it snowed every 11 years), and I believe Dec., 1990, or a year either way of 1990.
I also remember WHERE I was each time.
------------
Out of power FIVE DAYZ!!!!
IN the WINTER???!!

Ohmagosh!

Cold cold cold in Massachusetts this week. After visiting the B&B, I find myself imaging what it must have been like for Lizzie there during the winter snowstorms, looking out her window at it in the morning. Can just hear it hissing down. How she must have longed for a pet...

I think I would have stayed in bed!

Come to think about it we did have to stay in bed one day one year, 1993.  (I think)
We had *The Storm of the Century* which was later found, by models, to have been an -out-of-season hurricane.  We were out of power for 39 hours and it was 38 outside and huge drifts of hail...inside it was more about 50, but our mother was an invalid so staying in bed was the easiest way to keep warm that day!  And yes, her pet cat Paprika kept her warm...

Very cute name for a cat, Kat. Was Paprika an orange kitty?

Not a big problem if you heat with gas; an emergency starter? Or wood or coal that does not rely on electricity. I've heard that people who live in the cold country keep portable generators handy (like a lawn mower engine) for these cases.

Yes, red persian.
Her brother was Basil van Dazzle--he was a long-haired golden tabby...the love of my life except for my dog. (Neither are still with me).
.....................
Yes, gas.  I never had that except in the stove, in Boston.
We used our fireplace there as we never had heat--the second oldest house on Beacon Hill, Pinkney Street.  Little tiny doorways and little tiny stairway...

I heard that generators can only run like one thing?
So you run the refrigerator or what?

BTW:  I had recently remembered that my photo was in the Boston Globe around this time of which I speak!  Anyone else here have that claim with Lizzie?  (I guess she was a drawing)

The upstate in S.C. is expecting an ice storm mixed with snow beginning tomorrow morning and to continue all day.  The ice usually clings to the power lines and tree branches and sometimes brings them down.  Hopefully we'll escape a power outage.

Ah, the sunny South.

Send sand, street salt, scotch and generators.  Not necessarily in that order.

Ahhhh, now I remember why I left the east coast, that darned winter weather!  I can remember getting ready for school in front of our kitchen stove in the winter because it took soooooooooo long for the furnace to heat the house properly in the morning.  Don't hate me, but, we're supposed to have temps in the 70s tomorrow. 

You lived on Pinkney Street Kat? I work at Mass General, not far. I love Beacon Hill-so charismatic. Basil van Dazzle-sounds like he should have been in show business! You will meet again

And I LOVE snow! Cold, snow, ski, snuggle, fireplace...I love it all!

It is snowing hard in Connecticut this morning, the forecast says we may get 5-10 inches. It is the same storm Harry mentioned but we are not getting ice. This storm is not a nor'easter, it is coming from the other direction. A good morning to stay in so I am!

I was in Vermont the past two days. It was five degrees there yesterday morning, cold and clear. I went to college in the Boston area, the dampness in the winter there rivals the cold temperatures. At least inland there is more "dry" cold. Kind of like "dry" heat in the desert, at least you perceive it to be more comfortable!

Some people do have generators at their homes and those are helpful in prolonged power outages. Until I was ten years old we heated our house with a coal furnace. Coal gives wonderful heat, there were times when my father opened the windows in mid-winter to cool the house off! And electricity is not required unless you have a blower to help circulate the heated air through the ducts. A coal furnace is labor intensive, though, as it requires "personal" attention throughout the day, especially in early morning and in the evening. You also have to periodically shovel the ashes out of the bottom of the furnace. My grandmother made lye soap with some of those ashes.  When I was a little kid one of the highlights of the fall season was the arrival of the coal truck with the winter's supply. The driver would back the truck into our side yard and remove the cellar window over our coal bin and then chute the coal through the opening into the cellar bin. It was great to watch though my mother complained of the coal dust. I believe the Bordens had a coal furnace at 92 Second St. If they kept it going they were warm!

I think you are my age.
What school and when were you in Boston?
I did get "around", maybe met you or knew someone who knew you!
That would be so cool.

The Borden's had a coal furnace, but then there are those radiators.

Is there any relationship between the coal and those?
Or do you think they came later?
And I wonder WHO took care of that furnace, now you bring that up.
Maybe they had a worker living with them in the winter now that Andrew was 69.?

I'm sure Andy had a man (or boy) to come around at times. Coal deliverers may have hand-carried the coal into the cellars. (In my old house they had a coal chute!) Note the piles of coal ashes around in the cellar; Andy was not up to the task anymore. Or waiting to take advantage of somebody. "OK you'll get the loan if you show up and clean out the ashes from my cellar." Ashes have to be collected and disposed of because they poison any earth where they are dumped. Even too many wood ashes are not good for gardens. Depending on soil?

If Andrew was too old to tend the furnace a couple of times a day, I wonder who did do it and if we would recognize their name?
Is there less to do on a farm in Swansea in the winter?  If so, one of those men might come & stay?

While I don't know all the mechanics a coal furnace does not preclude the possibility of steam heat (radiators) in a house. Coal is fuel and heats the medium (air or water) which provides warmth. In my childhood home burning coal in the furnace heated air which circulated through ducts and registers to heat the rooms. Burning coal can also heat water which turns into steam and circulates through pipes and radiators to heat the rooms. With a warm air furnace you have to be sure there is enough cool air entering or returning through the system and with a steam system you have to be sure that there is enough cool water entering or recirculating through the system.

I think it is quite possible that if Andrew Borden was no longer able to do the physical work required in maintaining a fire in the furnace during the winter that a young woman or young women (Lizzie, Emma, Bridget) could perform that task. Whether they would be willing or even expected to do so is another question. Preparing and maintaining a coal fire in a home furnace is not a daunting task but it is something a person needs to learn how to do and is a chore whose elements must be performed on a regular basis. A hired man could also do this, of course, or could be engaged to handle just the periodic cleaning out and disposal of the ashes.

Witness Statements
Prob. Harrington
Aug. 21st
Pg. 18
"Mrs. Case directed me to Mrs. Daniel O'Leary of Fifth street, who at times worked for the Borden's. She could give no information."

W.S.
Seaver, Aug. 11
Pg. 36-7
"Early Thursday morning, Aug. 11, went to Luther's Corners, Swansea, with Marshal Hilliard, to the farm owned by the late Andrew J. Borden, and had an interview with Frederick Eddy and Alfred C. Johnson, who have been employed on that place, Mr. Eddy for sixteen years, and Johnson for nine....."

. ."I have seen axes and hatchets at Mr. Borden's. The large hatchet was comparatively new. When it was bought, it was brought over here, and ground sharp. After being ground, Mr. Borden was here, and it was carried out and put on the wall by the gate for him to carry home. When he went away be said, I wont take the hatchet. You'll be coming over in a day or two, and you bring it over; which I did. I did not use axes or hatchets at Mr. Borden's, as a Sweden, Andrew Johnson, went to Mr. Borden's when he was not busy here, and did all the work, cutting the wood, cleaning up the yard etc. When I go to Fall River with hay or anything for market, I have always been in the habit of going to Mr. Borden's house to dinner. Sometimes I have eaten dinner with them; often I have not got there until after they were through dinner.

Alfred Johnson made the following statement. "Have worked for Mr. Borden nine years. Have done his work at the house, cutting wood and cleaning up the yard, when not busy at the farm. Think the two last times I cut wood was early in the Spring, and again just before planting. Mr. Borden had two axes, a single hatchet, and a shop or bench hatchet. The bench hatchet has never been used much since it was sharpened. I ground it over here to the farm in the early Spring. The hatchet and axes were always kept in one place, in a box in the wood room at the left of the furnace. Never found them in any other place, and always put them back after using them, as Mr. Borden was particular about having one place for all tools. When I have been working at Mr. Borden's, I have stayed there."

--I remembered Mrs. O'Leary and the guys from the farm.  Maybe one of them did the heavy work or they took turns....
--Thanks for furnace info.  I keep picturing that furnace in the movie The Shining, that practically had a mind of it's own.  I thought the Borden furnace may also have had it's idiosyncrasies.?

I did not intend to spend Christmas afternoon at my computer but the weather today in Connecticut has changed my wife's and my plans and we are staying home!

For anyone interested in the real-time development and effects of a winter-time "nor'easter" check out The Weather Channel today. Where I live, since dawn, we have had rain, freezing rain, and sleet with snow and wind coming this afternoon and tonight. Everything outside is now covered with an ice/sleet coating. This storm is forming off the coast of New Jersey as I type and will be moving toward the waters off Cape Cod later today. Cold air, Atlantic moisture, and a northeast circulation off the water means a white Christmas for New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania!

As the song now playing in the background says, "The weather outside is frightful...Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

I don't envy you your White Christmas!
I don't get the Weather Channel but it was just on my local weather!  They officially called it a Nor'Easter.  I was SHocked!
I thought you guys got more notice than that!
THEN they're saying how C O L D it's going to get here, which is only a high of 59 Thursday, expected!  (Yea, right, that's cold?)
Right now is playing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".  So get busy...

Got about three feet of snow here Kat, Fall River got hit too. The thought of that house in a snowstorm really gets to me. Don't know why...

That's a lotta snow.  Doesn't make me miss N.Y. at all.

I wonder if Andrew kept the sleigh in the barn for just such storms. They could always rent a horse at one of the stables right on Second Street. Food was close at hand at Varney Wade's store a few houses away (#98-100).  

I will take a two-foot snowfall any day over the earthquakes of Calif, the hurricans of Fla, the tornadoes of the mid-west, etc.
All of the above can cause destruction of a home, unlike the peaked roofs of the north. The steeper the peak, the deeper the snow?

As Micky Micado would say, "Aye, YieYieYieYie!"

Was the Hill rather exposed to the weather?
With those views and near the water and the height of the hill itself, would that be a worse location in the winter than Second Street?
Knowing Wade's store was just a few doors down, and no electricity so no pwer outages and no phone disruption, Second Street is looking better in the winter.

From what I remember reading (now to find it again) the "Hill" wasn't much of a hill at all.  It was called that because the slope down to the bay was quite sharp in that area not because it was that much higher than the surrounding area.

It also appears to me as much a geographical area defined by wealth and name as a physical area.

Well that makes sense.  But if the trees are bare and I've seen old photo's and the views were supposed to be spectacular of the waters, so I thought they might be more exposed to the elements there.
Of couse, "low-lying area's" have their own problems...